


Empty

by leafkinz



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Gen, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Sad Ending, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, basically just a vent, self harm is barely mentioned, short and (not) sweet, wrote this during a suicidal breakdown
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-17
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:15:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27604754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leafkinz/pseuds/leafkinz
Summary: The death of a friend leaves only emptiness.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	Empty

**Author's Note:**

> Trigger warnings for: death, implied suicide, referenced self harm, referenced alcoholism, and general unhealthy coping mechanisms. Please take these warnings into account before reading!

There's an empty chair at their dinner table every night. No one has the heart to remove it. Dejun might panic if someone did.

There's an empty seat in Kun's old, beat-up 7-seater, the one he bought specifically to fit all of them. In the back, in the middle, between Sicheng and Yukhei. The air next to them always feels cold.

There's an empty space in all of their performances. The choreographer tried to change them, to accommodate for a missing member. Kunhang told her off; there was no accommodation needed.

There's an empty bed in their dorm. The same blankets and pillows lay on top of the mattress, the bed always kept neatly made as if someone might return to it. Sometimes, taken over by grief and heartbreak, Ten sleeps in it with Leon and Louis.

There's an empty hole in every member's heart, a place where their youngest member should be. They all cope in different unhealthy ways — Ten cries himself to sleep every night; Kun drowns his memories with constant work; Sicheng turns to stronger and stronger alcohol; Dejun does everything he can to pretend nothing has changed; Kunhang becomes accustomed to hiding cuts and scars; and Yukhei sleeps his days away.

Yangyang's untimely death leaves a gaping emptiness in each of their lives. It feels unfair that the world around them should be allowed to continue on without him as if he were never there. Although they'll all slowly heal and learn to live without him, they know their lives will never really go back to normal.

Because normal would include Yangyang, not the emptiness he left behind.


End file.
